I'm relatively new to the morning commuting gig, but I'm so hooked that I feel funny when my bike's not right next to me at work. This week marks two full months of cycling to work, and I'm pleased to report that others with whom I work are inspired by my ride. Another took the plunge last week and put her feet to the pedals. Here's to hoping that more will follow.

My commute in to work is 1.6 miles, but I extend and vary the ride home to avoid traffic -- I live in a fairly congested area -- and to include some good hills. I can't believe how good it's making me feel :)

Cheers!

Riding home, Friday night - I came up to my nemesis hill. The run up to it is a sharp right, with runoff gravel and sand in the roadbed, then immediately a sharp left, also sandy, which bleeds off almost all of your momentum, before you start to climb the short (~200 meters) with a sharp incline.

Before the first turn I noted a car was pacing me from behind, I hoped they'd go straight, but I signaled, turned, and they turned after me, then followed me thru the left turn, too. This hill is bad enough without an audience, but I dropped gears, got into the little ring and started climbing. I made it a bit farther than I usually do, before standing up - there's no spinning up this one for me, in the foreseeable future - and I heard the car behind me close enough to hear the engine fan spinning. I concentrated on pedaling the whole circle of the pedals, not just mashing, and got up to the left turn at the top with a bit more speed than usual, too.

The trailing car turned right, and over the rushing blood in my ears, I hear, "Allllll RIGHT! See you tomorrow!"

I looked down and saw that I'd made the climb in my third cog, instead of the first or second that is my wont.

w00t - I win!

I finally got a break from work so here goes.
The ride was overcast and cool, ~52F (11C) this morning. I needed arm warmers and a vest. :eek: It's May 8. What happened to the warm weather? Are the cool temps from changes caused by global warming?
Unzipped the vest when I was about 3/4 of the way to work.
It's 2:40 PM and still overcast and only 65F(18C). :(

This morning I saw a commuter that I see nearly every morning. I always smile or wave or nod. Today he actually acknowledged my nod.
I guess there's hope. :)

42F with SSW winds @ 20MPH gusting to 28MPH. Cloudy. I felt a bit under dressed but quickly warmed. I rode my roadie today since I'm training for a Triathlon in a couple of weeks.

There is a lady here @ work that rides a harley ... I saw her drive by me about 10 blocks from work... so I sprinted to the office and I got there 30 seconds before she did !!!!!

yesh !!!!!!!

I was my first commute, windy, steep, but fun.

I'm still get used to breathing at 7,000ft.

14 miles round trip

Rode mostly a couple lanes over from the right cuz of all the traffic making right turns. Other than that, the usual ride home. Always a thrill riding in the middle of traffic.

the ride to work was very nice... pumped my tires up about 10 psi and it seems like I am zooming along! love it. the ride home was good but HOT. it's not even really hot yet. Drank all my water. only 95 degrees :rolleyes: wait until it's 115. nodded at a cyclist and he nodded back. a first. a car almost plowed into me trying to cross a busy street (the one I was on) to the opposite cross street (no light)... she saw me and stopped just as I was grabbing the brakes to stop in the intersection ahead of her. Drivers really don't see you... I feel the same as Brian above, I can't believe how good riding makes me feel. it is so much easier now than two months ago. I can feel how much stronger and faster I am getting. Thanks to everyone who helped me out and continues to on these forums. :) you really make a difference in people's lives by encouraging them to bike.

Not really a "Commute" today, just a trip up to the campus to hand in my last paper. :D But it was bright and a little cooler than it's been the past few days, and I think I hit a personal record today. I could've *sworn* I left at 11, but it was 11:05 when I got to campus! It usually takes me more like 8 or 10 minutes. (the distance is only a mile).

My ride was nearly flawless. No flat tires, yipee! I survived the round trip. It is getting hot. The construction on the last leg of the Busway from Dadeland to Florida City construction is well underway and should be completed in 7 years or less. That will mean three less miles on urban streets for my current commute.

The ride into work this morning was great. Sunny and cool. Coming home I fought a terrible headwind for the last few miles that kicked my butt.

Today was my second commute from our new house. We just moved in on thursday. I am only riding till the train, but it is a good 4 miles through a pretty rough neighborhood (north philly) to the train. I made it pretty quick again. It is a good uphill the entire way. The train to work is the same as always. A nice short hill of about 1 mile, and I am at my school.

The ride home was really windy. I did figure out the right combo of streets to get me closest to my house from the train. After next week (coaching lacrosse till then)I wll ride home (27 miles or so)almost every night. hopefully it will not be raining tomorrow.

Great ride to work and home. Hardly any traffic today. Very busy at work but had a productive day. I hope the rest of the week goes well. Have a good night.

Rode 44 miles yesterday, but forgot sunscreen:(. I really regretted that today. Ride in was painful, ride home less so due to liberal application of burn gel. Legs and arms resemble lobster parts, and head has helmet hole burns:(. Kicked butt coming home. Road bike is fast, I could get used to this.

It was so nice this morning, I wish my route were longer. Cool, but warm enough for a t-shirt and shorts. The cagers were behaving themselves, and so was my trike (chain now repaired). I wish I could go out again right now... *sigh*

50F and sunny yet again. Lots of energy stored up. I made good time. Reeled in a dude on an MTB but didn't pass. Just relaxed several yards back for a mile or so before I went off in another direction.

Saw a couple with three huskies and thought about asking for a pull. :)

Coming up to a stop sign, I saw a copper, so I came to a complete stop. He proceeded to wave me out first. :rolleyes: I pulled out and spun up to the 20MPH speed limit, thus dropping the cop. :p Guess he was just out for a really slow drive.

Then I came up behind a woman (seen her before) waiting at a red light. I said g'morning. She said hi, then grumbled about the light taking too long. It changed a few seconds later and we headed up "the hill." She was on the sidewalk. I was VC on the road. I dropped her on the hill but then I don't have far to ride after that point so I can push harder.

Seeing more cyclists lately.

Back on the bike today after driving yesterday. Gloomy morning after some rain last night with a few wet spots on the roads. Made pretty good time for being tired and my legs hurting from my soccer game over the weekend. Had a truck right hook in front of me but I had plenty of time to slow down. Saw another cyclist close to home when I was leaving who was on the sidewalk. I am starting to see a few cyclists a day around here.

The only real option is Comm.Ave or Cambridge Street, and that bridge down by the Double Tree Hotel is an absolute nightmare. I could perhaps ride to Soldiers Field Rd. and pick up the bike path from there and ride the Harvard side path to the B.U. Bridge. From there I could mesh back into my normal commute as it's fairly sane once I cross the B.U. Bridge. Maybe I'll take a look at the cross bike I have in the basement to see what it needs. I've been doing rides after work, so I could stop at home and swap.

Todays Commute:

Things appear more calm now that College is done so my commute was uneventful for a change. It's suppose to rain later so my bag was packed with my work clothes and rain gair. I'm kinda hoping it rains so I won't feel like I packed this stuff for nothing.

What a greaaat ride in this morning. My legs were feeling strong and a bus was a block ahead of me. Put the coals to it and me and the bus rode about 2 miles above 30mph :-) That is the first time I've been able to draft and it was fun although it was smelly. Its great that the temps here in Denver are getting to the 50's these days.

Have a good day

One of my colleagues passed me in a car this morning at the West Side Hwy turning onto Canal St. I went back and forth with him until getting to the Manahattan Bridge. Nice ride in this morning

Took the mtb and wore regular shoes today. Riding clipless for the last few months it felt weird not being attached to the pedals. Almost mowed down a couple peds crossing in front of me when I had the green light. I wish people would actually look before they crossed the street.

Okay, I laid in bed trying to find excuses to drive in but I pushed on and got on the bike. My first leg is a mile where I wait for a bus that drops me down to a great trail. At first I was concerned because I couldn't find my gloves but I just wiped the sweat off on the seat of my pants every few miles . TMI? I saw a fox jogging along the trail ahead of me before it turned off. The ride was good and felt marvelous. This is week 3 for me and I feel stronger and more confident. I found my gloves when I got to work at the bottom of my backback under my work clothes. 24 miles roundtrip. 1/2 done. 1/2 to go.

Weather was crummy but the ride was beautiful, thanks to the new chain on my fixie -

- smooth as silk, and so quiet I was sneaking up on the squirrels. Joy.

(KMC Z610HX 3/32)

Nice ride today. I took it a bit easier than I normaly do, and remembered my towel. I'll take the long way home this evening, since I am trying to work up to the Santa Fe Century in two weeks.

I'm still fighting alergies, took some decongestant last night 3 hours before I went to bed, worked better that way cuz I was able to breath and sleep, but didn't wake up with medicine head.

ALMOST got out the door in time to do my long ride, but given the semi-****ty condition of my system, I decided not to push my luck and just took the short route into work. Nice cruise in, very slow (average speed like 12 mph :-) and I got in a half hour early. It was kind of nice and different to have my commute be casual and enjoyable, instead of being a training ride :-) I'll have to remember to do that again once in a while.

Bloody cold this morning. I got into work at a reasonable hour today, which means I get to leave at a reasonable hour and hit the gym. I'm thinking about going to a bigger gear - 42x14. My knees seem to be okay with the 39x14, but I don't want to push my luck. Maybe Friday...

Really pleasant ride in. I felt fast, for whatever reason and got to the train 3 minutes early, despite having to go around part of the park, still closed from last week's festivities.

Caught up, after a 6-7 block pursuit, to a bonehead in a TrailBlazer that just had to gun it around me to pass on the right in a closed lane amongst downtown pedestrians, then cut in on my with feet to spare. He couldn't quite bring himself to make eye contact with me while stopped at a light. Jackass. Still, that didn't detract much from a lovely ride.

They say going home, there might be large hail - whoopee!

It was drippy this morning, and it took about 10 minutes to get to the office.

Yeah, doncha love it when you give The Look to some jackhole in a landyacht and all of a sudden he's fascinated by a tree on the side of the road.

A gorgeous, gorgeous day that can't be ruined even by the redlight runner in the Honda Accord at 21st Street and 2d Avenue who nearly took off my front wheel. Clearly, she was on some Very Important Errand, possibly even a Mission From God, such that she needed to take great risks with the lives and limbs of others. Godspeed, Redlight Runner!

On the way in yesterday I got dropped BAD by a young woman on a touring bike with panniers. :o My only consolation was that she was 25 years younger than me, and I was coming to the end of a 90 minute ride. Still, it stung a little.

She passed me on the right with no warning. I didn't know she was there until she pulled up even with me. I wanted to chew her out, but I couldn't catch her! :o

On my midnight ride home, I saw lots of cyclists. Most were young guys whizzing around the city. Only one of the 15 had lights, and most were riding on the sidewalk. Some of them whooped and hollered when they saw me with my lights. I hope they get the idea. Anyway, if they keep riding all summer, I should get some great late-night races! I just hope they're not as fast as the girl with the panniers. :)